I have the sad duty of informing you of the death of my father, Russ Chauvenet, on June 24, 2003 at the age of 83. Russ had been in declining health for several years and had moved from Maryland to North Carolina in early 2000.

Russ was a life member of USCF. He was the 1959 U.S. Amateur Champion as well as the several-time champion of Virginia, two-time champion of Maryland, and winner of numerous other chess events. He was the highest-rated deaf player in the U.S. and won the U.S. Deaf Championship every time he entered it, never losing a game in that event. He represented the U.S. in the World deaf team and individual competition and was twice the runner-up in the individual tournament. Although he lost most of his games against them, he cherished his friendships with Herbert Avram, Martin Stark, Ariel Mengarini and others.

He taught me to play and I became good enough to lead my high school to victory in the DC-area high school play. Later I played on the Yale chess team. Although I never made a serious effort to pursue chess, I took many valuable lessons from the game and from those people I met through chess.

I feel safe in saying that my father was liked and respected by all who traded pawns with him and that he will be missed.
--Allen Chauvenet, Winston Salem, North Carolina